honestbee Talks Economies of Scale for On-demand Business Models

honestbee Thailand officially introduced its on-demand groceries services to the public on March 16th earlier this year in Bangkok with a buzzy press conference.

This isn’t the company’s first step into Southeast Asia, the Singaporean based company is already present in eight markets since its initial launch in 2015.

eIQ sat down with Joel Sng, CEO and co-founder of honestbee, to talk about the company’s on-demand model, product market fit and scalability in a developing market.

Groceries online in Southeast Asia

Delivering apples and milk to a customer’s front door isn’t a new concept. Instacart, US born groceries service, took off in 2012, serves 25 markets in the US, and raised $400 million in March. The company’s valuation was $2 billion in 2015.

Jakarta based on-demand service HappyFresh that raised a $12 million Series A and an undisclosed Series B launched in both Indonesia and Thailand two years before honestbee entered the same markets.

And groceries are only the beginning. honestbee doesn’t only offer apples and oranges, they want to be the ‘everything, everyday’ app.

Much like the mentioned businesses, honestbee shares similar value propositions:

Exclusive partnerships with supermarkets and other retailer partners

A single check-out purchase through a mobile app

An operations network composed of part-time workers and motorbikes taxis

A vast inventory of groceries and fresh produce

Scheduled “slotted” deliveries

Asset light business: no warehouses, only hubs (grocery stores) and no delivery trucks

There are a few differences that make honestbee stand out: the company makes money from delivery fees and revenue share and can actually save up to 30% on labor costs because shoppers are hired as independent contractors, not traditional full-time, salaried employees.

Product market fit for a demanding income bracket

Unlike the others, honestbee targets the top 10% money makers in each market by being more selective with partners to offer a service consumers are willing (and able to afford) to pay a premium before the rest of the market adopts the behavior.

“We figure out what each market needs and work with the right partners to bring value and convenience to our customers,” says Joel.

What also differentiates honestbee from its competitors is the varied service it offers across markets. How does the company decide what to launch? Through regular customer focus groups like the one held in Singapore of March this year.

A few questions the focus groups aim to answer before officially launching a new service:

Do the customers like our partners?

How do they suggest we improve the shopping methodology?

Is the infrastructure already there or do we need to build it?

Is the market growing fast enough in terms of age and adoption of behavior?

These feedback loops help honestbee work out what each market needs and led the company to discover certain market intricacies:

Offering garbage removal in Taiwan would be an instant success as the country has high stringent waste policies

Launching an on-demand laundry service in Hong Kong works as there is large expat population in the country

Singaporeans would not pay for marked up meal deliveries as offered by rivals foodpanda, UberEats

Online grocers in Japan accounted for only 2%, or $5.5 billion USD, of the retail grocery market in 2015

Although each market is different, the core of the business still remains its groceries delivery service and is always launched first.

A teeny problem: “Managed crowdsourcing”

Shopper retention and shortage because of fluctuating wages in a developing market

Expectancy for shorter and shorter delivery times by customers: same day → in two hours → next hour

Out of stock items and inaccurate deliveries – balanced with a “Bee” training program

Although it is risky to be spreading services so thin in concession, Joel is confident the company has the resources and isn’t concerned about needing more external investment aside from the $15 million it raised last year.

“We are comfortable with our economics right now,” comments Joel.

honestbee aims to become a one-stop solution for customers and make it possible to have anything available at the touch of a button by marrying the online and offline world.

“Groceries is such a generic term,” comments Joel. “We never envisioned just being in the groceries business – we want to solve problems for our customers.”